Tuesday, July 19, 2011

And How Did This Taman Tun Dr Ismail Project Get Approved?

I have to ask.You don't have to be a resident around Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi to be puzzled, and angry, over how this project got approved by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

Honestly, it is beyond anyone how it was approved.

You will be forgiven for being suspicious, for thinking the worst of city councillors.

How could anyone in their right mind approve this building project?

This site is sandwiched between TWO petrol stations along a narrow side e road that runs parallel to Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi which is a busy road.

For a long time, the site was a vacant parking lot. And then for a time, the popular neighbourhood food court, Rasta.

When the site was cleared, residents had expected some kind of project, but never in their wildest imagination that it would be thi -- a 13-storey building that include a hotel, office and retail lots.

Not a few metres behind this site are residential homes (link houses). Really, to close for comfort (read article below).

Across are a row of shoplots, including CIMB, a supermarket and clinics - a commercial part of the neighbourhood.

Residents are stumped at how the project got approved. It does not make sense that a huge project such as this is located near residential homes in a housing estate.

Who will it benefit?Traffic will increase multi-fold, that's for sure.

You city councillors -- don't blame people for thinking the worst of you!!!

Nothing is lost yet for the residents affected by this horrible project. I am sure they - through their association - can take the matter to court to stop the project ....and more...

It is a meaningless project, I tell you...

Read the story below, from NST "Streets":Residents in Lorong Burhanuddin Helmi 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), are worried about a construction site behind their houses. (See photo above of the roof of the link houses from the construction site)

Tan Fok Kheong, a 65-year-old resident, claimed that cracks started to appear in the back portion of his home when work on the project began a few months ago.

The project, on the main road of Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi, consists of a 13-storey block, which will house a hotel, office and retail lots, as well as a four-storey car park building.

"The site is too close to our houses. The fenced-off area is less than two metres from our kitchen door. Our tiles and the back door are damaged. We believe it is because of the piling work. I can feel the vibration.

"We want City Hall to look into this as we don't want to suffer more damage to our houses.

"Also, we have to bear with the noise from the site every day," said Tan, who has been staying there for over 30 years.

"We met the developer over the cracks and broken tiles. They assured us they would repair the damage.

"But, we want to have everything in writing before we can allow them to carry out any work on our homes.

"We need to know whether the developer is going to guarantee to repair the structural damage," he said, adding that a complaint had been lodged with City Hall.

"We are disappointed over several issues, including the fact that we did not receive the traffic noise study report. Residents, especially those staying near the site, are upset as they were not consulted before the project was approved by City Hall, said Hatim.

"House owners learned about the project before it started, about two months ago. But, they could not raise any objections at the time, because it had already been approved by City Hall."

Hatim added that residents were also concerned about the traffic congestion and parking problems that will occur when the high-density project was completed.

If I am not mistaken the land was orginally approved for an office block some 10 to 15 years ago. Due to some financial problem of the owner, the land was auctioned off by the bank and sold off to the present owner. The owner must have later changed the plan to hotel.

I quite agree with vinnan. You have been posting pro UMNO writeups all this while. Why now are you getting your feathers fluffed. Are you staying around here and it is affecting you. Come on Aina, get real.

Kak Nuraina,I have always enjoyed reading your postings. And I can imagined how busy you are because sometimes, for weeks you did not even have the chance to update your blog! I kept coming in and see the old postings.. So, naturally, when I see a new topic, I dive in..I can see that this issue you wrote about is so close to your heart. I have no comments on your writings, but I just want to comment on the way you handle critisicm. No matter what, as a principled and established jorno, you should refrain from showing off your outburst to comments that are not aligned to your views. I am quite surprise that you even used the word SOB on one vinnan and later repeat the same words on Ttajam.If you dont like their comments, just delete it. You are the blog owner, you decide whose comments go thru and whose are to be ditched. I hope you are not angry at me with this "peringatan untuk anda dan untuk saya juga". APD

if you have been following me, you will know how I deal with personal attacks.i always say that usually i would delete offensive comments that bring no good to a debate or if the comments are slanderous and seditious.

especially from anonymous commenters.there are, however, times, I feel like i need to tell of commenters who obviously are simply vicious.and to me, they deserve every word i slap them with.

It gets worse for TTDI:1) 'Redevelopment' at Pasar Besar TTDI and the market would probably be relocated out of TTDI. Goodbye market.2) Development at Bukit Kiara forest area around Bakti building/Wisma WIM. Less greenery, more traffic pollution.3) Illegal telco tower at car park next to Sekolah Rendah Agama TTDI. This non-action contrasts the lightning-quick teardown at Bukit Bandaraya Bangsar. Big-shot interference here?

Despite the fact that we have a Segambut MP office, FT Minister's home and a DBKL Advisory Board member in our midst, the residents can only watch helplessly and make the occasional feeble protests. This is compounded by only half-hearted attempts to unite and galvanise the residents into action.

Nuraina A Samad

About Me

Singapore-born PJ girl. Journalist with NST for 27 years until March 2006. Became editor-in-chief of a publishing group and media strategist. After three years (2009), is back with NST as managing editor.